Trapped in a world he is not designed to cope with, Dave-El (the true Kryptonian name of alleged Earth creature David Long) writes about comics, Doctor Who, politics and whatever damned thing pops into his unbalanced mind.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Random Comic Book Musings

Supergirl’s
big CW debut was this past Monday night and it sure was something… I didn’t get to
see. OK, it’s on my DVR and hopefully the family and I will have a chance to
sit down by this weekend to see how our favorite Girl of Steel is faring on her
new network home. I’m really anxious to see the show’s take on Superman/Clark
Kent.

OK,
it’s Wednesday which is comic book day here on the ol’ blog thing. What else in
the world of comics can we talk about?

The
forthcoming Doctor Strange movie is looking decidedly trippy and I’m glad to
see that. If you can’t upend the normal expectations of a Marvel film about the
Sorcerer Supreme, where can you? It’s important for Marvel to explore new tones
while building on what has successfully gotten them where they are. Last year’s
Ant Man was a good example of taking the template for a Marvel super hero movie
and effectively merging it with other established movie concepts such as the
comedy crime caper or the corporate espionage thriller. Doctor Strange is
decidedly pushing on the parameters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with its
strong Inception-like vibe.

Going
forward, could Marvel incorporate its characters into other movie genres? What
about an all out comedic farce with the Great Lakes Avengers or Damage Control?
Or a romantic comedy with Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat? Or a western, dusting off
Kid Colt, Two Gun Kid or Rawhide Kid?

While
things are looking good for Marvel in the movie world, DC has been ruling the
roost on television. Well, they have been. The 3rd season premiere
of The Flash and the 5th season premiere of Arrow both posted
numbers down from their premieres last year. I hope the bloom isn’t already
coming off the CW’s super hero rose just as Supergirl joins the line up.

Where
DC is definitely trouncing Marvel of late is in the world of comic books. Yes,
they still print those! And DC’s Rebirth initiative seems to have caught in a
way that the New 52 reboot in 2011 did not. The return of legacy to DC’s stable
of characters has made a serious impact across the spectrum of new and old
fans. But as well as DC is doing, part of their success is coming from Marvel’s
lack of success. I think the roll out of the All New All Different Marvel in
the aftermath of 2015’s Secret Wars didn’t make the splash Marvel may have been
hoping for. Relaunching titles with new #1s which had just debuted with a #1
less than a year ago. An uncertainty about exactly what was the status of the
new Marvel. It’s new and different… except when it isn’t. Then Marvel doubled
down with its Civil War II which has landed with significantly less impact than
the original series a decade ago.

I
am very interested in Marvel’s The Vision series written by Tom King who is
currently writing Batman for DC. One reviewer described the series as “Marvel’s
own Watchmen”, a dense and emotionally compelling story. If Marvel collects in
a single volume, I may have to get it. Assuming Marvel doesn’t overprice it.

That’s
something that still irks me about Marvel, that all its titles across the board
are $3.99 an issue for a basic 20 page story. Most of DC’s line is holding at
$2.99 with $3.99 titles sporting a few extra pages of story. Over at Image, the
creator owned titles there range from $2.99 to $3.50 to $3.99 with
significantly more content than any Marvel or DC title. If DC and Image can
provide titles at $2.99 or additional content for higher priced titles, Marvel
could too.

OK,
that’s enough for today. Thanks for dropping by. Hopefully I will have some
thoughts to share about Supergirl on the CW. Meanwhile, tomorrow’s post returns
us to the weird world of… Stranger Things.